Which Capture Card???

[joed]

I am assembling a computer for my sister for Christmas. She wants to archive her VHS collection to VCDs, and I am new to this topic. I have been reading through these forums for about a week, and still have questions as to which card would be the best.

I am looking at spending no more than $200, but was hoping to spend closer to $100. Preferably a PCI card. I have read some good and bad things about some cards in this price range.

The system is:
Athlon 950
512MB PC133
40GB 7200 RPM HD
Geforce2 MX200
Win 98SE

I am looking for capture with minimal blocks, and about 40-60 minutes hour per VCD.

ATI AIW 128 Pro
ATI TV Wonder VE
PV233
PV256 (don't know pricing yet)

Any and all recommendations are much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[joejackson]

I'm in much the same boat. I'm looking at an ATI Radeon 32 Mb or 64 Mb DDR card though, which appears to be much the same as the All-in-Wonder, but without the TV features (I don't need that). It appears that can be had for slightly cheaper than the AIW. I've seen prices on CNET as low as $121 (for a "white box" 64 Mb version) and ranging up to $190.

But like you, I'm still gathering info. The capture card info on this board is a good start, but there is a lot of misinformation, and its very hard to tell if a complaint is an isolated issue or a real problem.

I hope others will post here on more information on capture cards.

--Joe

[pcarver]

I just bought an ATI AIW Radeon 32MB for $147, but there were problems with other parts of the order and the company has been unresponsive so I don't think I can recommend them.

I'm satisfied with the ATI card itself, but the instructions on this website are incomplete. In particular, you need a video for windows wrapper that I only found by searching the forum.

Windows 2000 was a crashfest with this card. I did a fresh install of Windows ME and I haven't had any problems.

I've pretty much settled on doing DivX captures rather than VCD or SVCD. Since I want this box connected to my receiver for games and MP3s it's not a problem connecting the TV outs of the AIW to a TV in on my receiver.

If your home layout allows the PC to be connected to the TV this is a good alternative. I'm finding that for a 45 Minute recording a 320MB DivX gives better quality than either VCD or SVCD and I can put two 45 Minute recordings per CD.

[Arepiv]

I have myself an ATI All In Woder 128 Pro and it gives me very poor results in capturing video even in AVI format with Huffyuv codec: small artifacts on some textures (like noise) and background interferences (random pale horizontal lines). I would not recommand such a board for video caps.

Since ATI didn't give me any help to solve my problem (no response to my mails !), I bought a cheap Pinnacle Studio PC TV Rave which performs great ! So this would be my recommandation.

[Speedpuppy]

my friend and i have been taking either shows he taped on VCR or my home videos of kids and each of us transferring to vcd/svcd/xvcd ...and so on.

we both use DAZZLE to capture the stuff
1. dazzle will get it in there at varible bit rates up to 3.0mb/sec for usb
2. dazzle dvc II will go even higher with MPEG2 stuff.
3. he then uses tempgen to encode to mpeg2 or otherwise (clean) it up
4. then burns a cd with mpeg 2 on it 1 hour on tv= 42 mins with out commercials.
5. the quality is pretty good.
6. the reason we here capturing in MPEG 1 or 2 was due to size / ease of editing
7. we have now discovered the following
8. if you can capture up to 7.0mbs or more (hence bigger file size ) then use tempgen to create standard VCD
format you will be shocked at the quality we have being doing this over a year and stumbled upon it
9. today i will capture via firewire (digital camcorder) in avi which has veryhigh bit rate as well and encode and post results..

hope this helps

[volswagn]

Definitely check out the Osprey-100 (http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey/osprey100.html). I have a PIII-600Mhz, 128MB with a Maxtor ATA66 30GB hard drive and I can capture at 720x480 with the huffy or MJPEG codecs (I usually make SVCD's). As long as I don't use any filters while capturing, I only drop three or four frames per 10-minute capture at that resolution. A better machine will obviously do better. I can't speak highly enough about this card. Also allows multiple video inputs at the same time. I just use my Sound Blaster Live! for audio input while capturing.

The card is usually around $150.

[sracer]

You don't say if your sister is computer literate or not, or whether or not she has a lot of time to devote to the endeavor of converting tapes to VCD.

I recommend that you invest in a VHS VCR that has S-Video output port... that will help maximize the quality of the video coming out of the VCR.

I also recommend the Dazzle DVC (USB). I've had mine for nearly 2 years and the quality of the default VCD-compliant MPEG1 files is superb (IMO). Check out the sample MPEG on my homepage: http://pages.prodigy.net/tcperconti/ it was created using the standard VCD template, from a DVD player attached to the S-Video connector on the Dazzle. The video is unretouched.

The beauty of the DVC is that once the video is captured, it can be written directly to a VCD without any additional processing.
Be warned however, that some people who have recently purchased a Dazzle DVC have not had the same luck as I have. It might be something unique to their system... so if you decide to try the Dazzle DVC, get it from a store with a good return policy.

[joed]

Thank you all for your responses.

Card Poster rating Price
ATI AIW Radeon + $150
ATI AIW 128 Pro - $110
Dazzle DVC (USB) 2 +'s $150
Dazzle DVC II + $265
Osprey-100 + $140

I have a friend that has a Dazzle DVC II, and he loves it, but it is out of my price range. I have also read that the Dazzle DVC needs to be cooled to work properly (have a fan blowing on it), and the USB interface really limits quality. However, the video clip that sracer provided looks great. And writing directly from the captured clip to a VCD is a big plus.

Speedpuppy, how does the quality of your tempgen created VCD compared with sracer's?

My sister is somewhat literate...I am going to get everything up and running before giving it to her, and will just give her detailed instructions. She has a fair amount of time to devote to converting.

And as joejackson stated "The capture card info on this board is a good start, but there is a lot of misinformation, and its very hard to tell if a complaint is an isolated issue or a real problem."

I hope to see more info...I guess I will wait and see if anybody else posts.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: joed on 2001-11-27 13:02:41 ]</font>

[joed]

Found a review of the PV256 (still haven't found the price). http://www.iln.com.au/pv256review1a.html

And I found a price of $249
http://shop.officenetcenter.com/P_409.htm

I guess if I were to get a more expensive card, I would go for the Dazzle DVC II.

[geniv]

damn, sracer judging from that clip that your vcd encoder does a damn good job.

[sillyrabbitt]

fyi

i boughtthe ati aiw 32mb agp $131 at dell.com they have a coupon for $20 off and 10% off free shipping

[sracer]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-11-27 15:34:56, geniv wrote:
damn, sracer judging from that clip that your vcd encoder does a damn good job.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks geniv. Yes, the Dazzle DVC DOES do a great job. Keep in mind though that this is a capture of a DVD via the S-Video connector. VHS caps don't look as good...but they do look just as good as those captured via uncompressed AVI and then post encoded.

joed, I've read about a heat problem, but I've never experienced that in the nearly 2 years that I've owned mine. Yes, it does get warm...but not to the point of concern.

[spiderman2k1]

The dazzle 2 has some problem amd motherboard so be care full. If you sister just want VCd get the ALL IN WONDER PRO Im not a big fan of ATI but the price is good

[geniv]

I do my caps from DVD too.
and I"m using the original SNAZZI PCI card.
it might be your clip is easier to encode.

I never got the quality that you got. I never really notice until I tried the likes of the Real Magic DVR, DVCII and PV256. that my snazzi pci's capture is kinda not as sharp as other and have more motion artifacts.

but then again I"m using composite video in cable so I don't know how much quality difference is between that and S-Video

[sracer]

spiderman2k raises a good point about the Dazzle 2. Check out their website for specifics regarding problems. Also keep in mind that unless it ships with the latest software, that you'll have to immediately download the latest 4.23, if you want acceptible VCD-compliant MPEGs.

geniv, Nope has nothing to do with the clip... that is the type of quality I've been getting from my caps. Obviously caps from videotape are not as good.

Yes, there is a BIG difference between composite and S-Video... so much so, that I've been trying to find an affordable VHS VCR that has an S-Video output so that I can cap my tapes that way.

[sommersby]

Watch the local sales, I just got the AIW 64 at best buy for $104 with rebate and gift card!

[joed]

sracer, what is affordable defined as for a VCR? As this might be the best way to go, with a cheap(er) Dazzle USB, and VCR with S-Video out.

Here is what I found with a quick web browse in the way of the cheapest VCRs with S-video out...there are probably cheaper prices elsewhere on the net...
JVC HR-S3910U $170 at Circuit City
JVC HR-S3900U $170 at Best Buy
JVC HR-S3800U $150 at Circuit City
JVC HR-S5900U $200 at Circuit City
Mitsubishi HSU747 $180 at The Good Guys
Samsung DVD-V1000 combo DVD/VCR $300 at Best Buy (plays MP3 CD's also)

BTW, Circuit City also has user ratings.

I appreciate all the input. I hope to have enough info to make an informed decision soon!

[joed]

The motherboard chipset on my sisters computer is made by Sis, and there are no reported problems...although I am not leaning toward getting the Dazzle DVC II now, if I do end up getting one, I will make sure I can return it (i.e. Best Buy sells them).

Thanks for the info.